Category

Published on

15 Oct 2012

Abstract

"From PRESSS Research to PreWEC" is the eighth in the Research to Practice Webinar Series co-produced by the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI).

The PREcast Seismic Structural System program (PRESSS), completed about a decade ago, introduced the use of unbonded post-tensioned walls for seismic-resistant design. Since that time, several research advancements have been made and codification of unbonded post-tensioned walls has been completed. To improve cost-effectiveness and resiliency, the PREcast wall with end columns (PreWEC) was subsequently introduced. Today, an investigation of PreWEC—focusing on understanding the influence of various damping components and interaction between rocking walls and surrounding building components—is being conducted in the NEES Rocking Wall Project. The webinar will provide 1) a brief summary of the PRESSS wall system; 2) details of PreWEC and its performance; 3) analysis results that examined the interaction between a PreWEC system connected to floors and gravity columns; and 4) directions for implementing ongoing and completed research in design practice. In addition, an opportunity to provide input for the NEES Rocking wall project will be provided.

Webinar presenters are Sri Sritharan, Wilson Engineering Professor at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa and Suzanne Dow Nakaki, a licensed structural engineer in California and the Principal of Nakaki Structural Design Inc., Tustin, California. Both presenters were involved in the PRESSS program and the codification effort. Sritharan and Nakaki are, respectively, the principal investigator and consulting engineer for the ongoing NEES Rocking Wall Project.